Book 1: Alternate ending For Clove and Cato: Safe and Sound
by thebigdog2895
Summary: DISCLAIMER: Everything is owned by Suzanne Collins. I OWN NOTHING. CLOVE'S POV. This is a heartfelt story about Clove and Cato with an altered future and the people they are. WARNING: MATURE CONTENT. FOR AGES 13 . If you don't feel comfortable reading mature content or you are under 13 you can skip chapters 4, 5, 28, and 34B. The story will still make sense. PART II IS DONE!


An alternate ending for Clove and Cato Part I

Chapter 1

I opened my eyes to the world. As soon as the reality of life hit me, I realized my mind had already taken off without me. Today was a big day, And in three days, it will be another big day. It will be the reaping. That, however, is not the most important thing right now. Today is my one year anniversary of dating my handsome boyfriend, Cato. If my parents and his parents knew we were dating, we would both be in big trouble. His family and my family are rivals. This is only because both sides are descendants of previous victors of the Hunger Games. Each side has gone in together and destroyed each other after all the other tributes were dead. Each side has an even number of victors. My family wants to get ahead with me as a tribute. They think I will win the next games. Cato's family is the same way. I don't want to enter the arena with the man I love and have to kill him in the end. I won't kill him. Right now, however, I don't have to worry about it. I get up and get ready for my day. It all starts out normal. At the training center everything is going as usual, but I can't help but ponder what Cato planned for our one year anniversary date. Even after I leave the training center, I still keep thinking about what he has in store for me. Both of our parents are out of town for 2 days. I could spend the night with him at his house or vice versa. Now that my parents have left, I pull out my best gown. I put it on and look in the mirror. I still don't know what he sees in me. I feel pretty in this gown, but my mind doesn't think it. I hope he will like this dress. He always tells me that I don't need makeup to look pretty. He says I already am. I decide to listen and go without it. I stand in my driveway waiting for him. He pulls up in his junky little jeep. He looks very handsome in his traditional suit. Although, he is handsome regardless. I haven't seen him all day. I leap in to his arms and he holds me close to his body. It feels so warm. He picks me up and places me in the jeep. He hops in and we drive away into the night.

Chapter 2

We finally reach a destination that looks so familiar to me. It's a beautiful lake. The moon and stars are reflecting off of it. It has a dock that goes about 20 feet out into it. The ground is nothing but grass for miles and miles. The space is so open. Why does it seem so familiar? Then it hits me. Why didn't I recognize it? This was where we first met and where we had our first date! We were both 12 when we met. The training center always has a meeting here to discuss with parents how thing work in the training center. The kids would hangout near the lake. I was sitting by myself at the edge of the lake, trying to take in the fact that I could die within a few years in the Hunger games, when he sits down next to me and says, "Nice place isn't it?" I simply smile and nod. I was too shy to say anything. He asks me for my name. I say it to him and think nothing of it. He introduces himself and says he will see me soon at the training center. Not much of a beginning, but it was at the training center we got to know each other better. They put us in groups based on skills. He and I were in the same group. Since neither of us really knew anyone else, we felt it would best to train together. We began our friendship here, and soon a relationship. The rest is history. I smile just thinking about our start and how we are now. He goes to open the door for me and as I step out he reaches in to the back to grab a picnic basket. I help him set it up. It may not seem like a huge romantic gesture to be here, but to me, it's the most romantic thing he could do. We did the same thing one year ago. When we sit down to eat, we talk about everything from the games, to our families, to things going on in the district, and then to our relationship. That is when the conversation starts to get really deep. We start to bring up how we met and how it lead to this moment. Its crazy to think that a few years ago we were strangers. It feels like we have known each other forever. After an hour of this deep conversation, he randomly stands up. I stand up with him wondering what is going on. He goes on to say to me, "Clove, The first time I ever saw you sitting here in this spot my gut told me that you were someone special. I followed my gut and allowed myself to open up to you. We both put our hearts on the line, which allowed us to start developing a deep relationship. It was through this deep relationship where my feelings for you grew stronger. I knew I had to be with you. Now that I'm with you, I am happier than ever before." He looks me straight in the eyes and continues with, "Clove I love you. You mean everything to me. I never want to let you go. With that I have something important to ask you." I think I know what's coming. I begin to tear up, which is rare for me. I brace myself. Its all going too fast. I don't even know if I'm ready. We are both so young. However, my heart says I'm ready. My brain says I'm not. Who do I listen to? My brain or my heart? He gets on one knee, pulls out a small box, opens it to reveal a gorgeous diamond ring and asks, "Clove, will you marry me?"

Chapter 3

I nearly scream. My heart and brain are battling it out to get through to me. My heart wins. I smile and simply say, "Yes!" He places the ring on my finger, grabs me, dips me down, and gives me the most romantic kiss ever. I close my eyes and receive the kiss with delight. I try to think about our future, but I can't. This moment right now is so amazing that it is the only thing that I can think about. This is the first time in a long time that I have been able to focus on one thing. He then releases me and I hug him tight. His arms around me make me feel safe & sound. There is no one who I want to be with right now except for him. After a few moments of holding each other, I decide to ask him if he wants to spend the night at my house so we can have more time together before the reaping. Without a second thought, he agrees. We get into the car and drive to my house immediately. When we arrive we go straight to my room and begin to make out. I suppose our hormones are taking over now. Hopefully, things don't get too out of control. I'm a little nervous since he is the first guy to be in my room. I usually worry about what could happen with having a guy in my room. However, I know that Cato would never do anything to hurt me. I can trust him. I also would worry that my parents could walk in and get angry that I have brought a boy home without permission. I don't have to worry about that though. We have the whole house to ourselves. I am so happy right now. I don't know how this could get any better, except for one thing. I don't know if he wants to go that far. I know I'm ready to, but is he? Should I ask him? Should I see how things go? Should it even happen? I feel so attracted to him. I want him so bad. My love for him is strong enough to make me realize that I don't need it to be happy with him. Still, I want it. I may never get another chance. I am enjoying making out with him, and I can tell he is to. I lay on my bed and he lies on top of me. We continue making out, but I can't help but feel a very noticeable thing poking at me. He wants me too. I can feel it. He is even hinting at it. He just doesn't want me to get upset. That's why he hasn't asked. With that hint, I begin to remove his shirt.

Chapter 4

As his shirt hits the floor we switch positions and he removes my dress. We continue making out for a few more minutes. He stands up and I pull down his pants. We keep making out for another few minutes. He then pulls back and asks me, "Are you sure you want to do this?" I think for a moment and tell him, "I want to go further, but I don't want to be seen just yet. How about we just do it under the covers?" He thinks about and says, "Ok, but do you have any protection we can use?" I realize I don't, but I'm in this too far to stop now. I might regret it later, but I don't want to lose this moment. I tell him that we don't need it and I think that it is unlikely to get pregnant at a young age. Even though he is unsure, he agrees and we slip under the covers. I have him remove my bra. I give him the ok to feel me there, and he does, although he questions doing so. He is so gentle. He massages them, and gently pinches them. I let out a sigh as he is doing so. It feels nice to have him touch me. After a few minutes of this he throws his underwear to the ground. He then tells me its ok to touch it. I grab it and start moving my hand up and down the thing. It sticks straight up. As I'm doing so he holds my chest and moans. Not to long after doing this, he stops me. He warns me that he is going to, well you know. He doesn't want that to make a mess in my bed. I'm glad he decided to not allow himself to do so. I then throw off my underwear. He gets the cue. He begins to massage it and I moan with pleasure. He goes in deeper and rubs this button like thing in there. That feels absolutely incredible. I really start to moan and groan. It feels so good to have his hands on my body. A few minutes pass by before I begin to climax. As soon as I do, I stop him so I too don't make a mess. He understands. Now that both of us are in our birthday suits we cuddle while waiting for our heart rates to slow down. Mine was going faster than the speed of sound. Not even five minutes later, out of impulse, I start moving my hips back and forth against his body. I guess my hormones decided that I should keep going. I know I shouldn't listen, but I do anyway. I may never get another chance at it. He picks up the hint and he slowly slides in.

Chapter 5

He goes slowly so I can get use to the feeling. It feels weird at first, but soon it begins to feel like pleasure. As soon as he is in as far as he can, he starts to slide back and forth. My hips start to move in a rhythm, which he quickly picks up. We start to go harder and faster. I am nearly screaming because it feels so good. He is nearly doing the same. My heart is going faster than ever before. It is going even faster than the speed of light. He places his hands right on my chest which makes this even better. It is going well. I'm feeling great. This is probably one of if not the best moment of my life. There is no one else in the world that I would be willing to lose my virginity to other than Cato. He is the one meant to take it from me. We both climax at the same time. Just then, I feel him pull out super quick, but not before a strange liquid releases from him. I open my eyes. I didn't even know I closed them. My heart rate is slowing down. I'm breathing very heavily. So is he. He grabs my hand and kisses it tenderly. I know why he pulled out so quickly. Sure, I wish he had pulled out before it happened, but I don't think it was a big deal. He holds me close and whispers, "I'm sorry." I tell him it's all going to be just fine. I say to him to not worry about it, hoping that will get him to not be anxious about it. I rub his shoulders a little and his body releases the tension. He rubs my shoulders and I release tension as well. I didn't even know I was tense. I whisper to him, "Thank you." "For what", he asks. I reply, "For making this night so wonderful." I am so happy that we got to do this. Yes, I'm concerned that I could get pregnant, but I doubt it. I then remember that my mom has a huge stock pile of pregnancy tests. My parents have been trying to conceive another child, but they can't. She has so many of them, she wouldn't even know if 3 were missing. I ask Cato to close his eyes so he doesn't see me while I go get them. It takes, at most, three days to get the results. After I finish using them, I dry them off, put them in a plastic bag, and place them on the dresser. I crawl back in to bed with him and cuddle again. We both fall asleep still holding each other close.

Chapter 6

I awake to find him sitting on a chair with just pants on waiting for me to awaken. He then places a tray in front of me. He made me breakfast in bed. I tell him thank you and gobble it up. I ask him if he has eaten. He tells me he has. I just wanted to be sure. He deserves it. He takes the tray when I'm done and goes to do the dishes. I sit there for a moment, thinking about how wonderful last night was. It was amazing. I just hope the pregnancy tests do show up negative. Eventually, I get dressed and go to hug him from behind and thank him. I help him with the dishes. After the dishes are done, we go to watch some TV even though, its all news from the Capitol. He makes me lunch and dinner. I help him with the dishes again. This day with him has gone by fast. I then realize this could be my last day with him. The reaping is tomorrow. We both are being forced to volunteer. Neither of us wants to go in, but we have to. We hope someone will volunteer before us so we don't have to go. I tell him this could be our final day. The look on his face tells me he wants to go mad. He immediately hugs me. His hug is so tight I can barely breathe. He knows he could win the games, but he would take his own life if it meant that I could be the victor. If I know him, if I volunteer, so will he. He wants to protect me. No adults know of our relationship, but anyone 18 and under does. No one messes with me or him. They are all scared of us. They know that if they volunteer they could get into some deep trouble. No one will volunteer if I go in because one, no one else can beat me, and two nobody wants to make Cato angry. I am dreading tomorrow, but for now I embrace the time I have with him. He lets go so I can breathe again. As the night goes on we know we need to sleep. We go to bed together. All we can do now is hope.

Chapter 7

We both jump. We can hear the door opening. We don't have much time before my parents will come knocking on my door. We hug and kiss and he escapes through the window. I must fight back tears, which is unusual, so my parents don't suspect anything. They knock on my door. I open it and I hug them. We prepare for the reaping. Just before we leave I grab the pregnancy tests and hide them in my bra. We arrive with a few minutes to spare. I go and register and stand with my age group. I see Cato. He looks distressed. I look into his eyes and can see fear in them for the first time. The documentary of why the Hunger Games are here begins to play. It is all old news. Our escort, Pinda, begins with the reaping for the girls. Cato and I hold our breath. His eyes tell me that he wants to run away with me right now. I want to too. We can't. The Peace keepers are everywhere. Some 12 year old gets reaped. As I was trained to do, and as my parents expected me to do, I raise me hand and scream, "I volunteer." I hope someone beat me to it. I was too early. I have now volunteered. Pinda gestures me up and asks for my name. I say it out loud into the microphone. I can see the proud look on my parents faces. Cato's face is now pale and shows that he is fighting back tears. That is so unusual. He never cries. I too am fighting back tears. If I cry I will look weak. I can't look weak or I may not get sponsors. Pinda then reaps the boys. It was another 12 year old. No one dares volunteer except for Cato. All the 18 year old boys were expected to, and if they didn't, they would receive a beating. That, however, is much better than having to be confronted by Cato, or having to be killed by me in the end. They know they couldn't beat me. Without a second thought he comes up to the stage. Nothing matters any more. We hug in front of everyone. My parents aren't happy and neither are his. Pinda then asks, "This is the first time we have ever had only one boy volunteer for the games. I'll bet it's because you, young man, want to go in and protect your girlfriend. No one wanted to mess with that. Am I right?" He looks to me to see if I give him the ok to open our relationship up to the world. I nod to signal that I give him the ok. He sighs, "Yes." Pinda then goes on to say, "That is the bravest thing that I have ever witnessed. We all salute your bravery. We wish good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor." Yeah, let's hope they are.

Chapter 8

I have only a few minutes for final goodbyes. My parents burst into the room. My mother instantly slaps me across the face. "How could you date that boy? You know that he is the son of our rivals! He will probably feel no guilt in killing you!" screams my mother. I scream back, "He told me he would rather slit his throat than put a blade through my body! I would do the same for him." My father then says, "We are very disappointed that you have been dating him behind our backs. We are, however, proud of you for volunteering." My mother nods her head in agreement. I still don't care if they don't like me dating Cato. Just then, my mother grabs my hand and screams at the sight of my ring and wedding band. Out of sheer rage, she punches me in the face. She then shouts, "You are engaged to him too! That is too far!" I try to calmly say, "What are you going to do about it? Kill me? I don't care if you don't like him. I love him. That is all that matters and you can't do anything about it!" I didn't even realize that as soon as I declared my love for him that I had begun shouting. I don't care though. They deserved it. I tell them I never would have volunteered if they didn't make me. Their anger levels are now at their highest. I smile as soon as the peace keepers take them away. Still, I tell them I love them and they say it back. It's strange how I can still love them even with their disapproval of Cato. As soon as they leave I am taken to the train and it takes off. We discuss our options with Enorbia, who is our mentor and is another former victor of the games. She tells us not to rush because we still need to get to know who our opponents are. We turn on the TV just in time to find out who we're going to face. I watch in horror because I see two 12 year olds be reaped. One of them is named, Rue, and I don't get the name of the other. I don't want to kill kids that are so young, but I have to. When we get to the reaping of District 12, I watch in awe. I witness one of the most courageous things that has ever happened in the history of the reapings

Chapter 9

During the reaping of District 12 a very small 12 year old girl is reaped. I could never kill someone that small. She looked so innocent. As she is being taken away, an older girl with her brown hair in a side braid screams, "I volunteer as tribute!" Why would anyone from an outlying district volunteer? That never happens. I think she did it out of panic. The younger girl goes to hug her. She starts to scream. An older boy goes to take her away so the older one can go up to the podium. Their escort, apparently named Effie, asks the girl what her name is. She replies, "Katniss Everdeen." Effie goes on to ask if the younger girl was her sister. She says yes. Now it makes sense. Katniss wanted to protect her sister. How sweet. Too bad she has to die so I can be with Cato. After the commotion dies down from the volunteering, a boy named Peeta Mellark is reaped. The two shake hands and with that, are whisked away. Never has someone volunteered in place of a family member. Usually, only career tributes, from Districts 1, 2 and 4, volunteer. This is because it is an honor to represent your district. Not to mention they are trained for the games. I'm from District 2. I am a career. Not that I want to be. Anyway, families do not usually volunteer for another family member. Family love can only go as far as the games. I don't believe someone would do such a thing for their family. At least I don't have to worry about killing another 12 year old. I think the age minimum for the games should be 16. No 12 year old has ever won. A 14 year old has, but that's the youngest victor ever. 12 is way too young. They are being robbed of their child hood. It's just not fair.

Chapter 10

I turn to Cato to see how he has reacted to this. His face shows that he doesn't really care. All he cares about is that I am safe. He will kill anyone to save me. Still, I don't need him to protect me. I am extremely skilled with throwing knives. I don't need to be protected. He knows it. He just wants to be sure. I won't let him make me look weak. After everyone else is dead, I won't let him die for me. He should live. He can contribute more to the District than I can. I just have to die before he does. Everything is so complicated now. He proposed to me. We made love. We are both fighting in the Hunger Games. We have to kill two 12 year olds and a girl who saved the life of her sister. Then I have to die. So much has happened in so little time. I don't know how to deal with all this. Should either of us die really? Maybe we can both live. Maybe we won't kill ourselves. We will make the game makers have two victors. We won't die. Yeah. That could work. They can't kill us both. They have to have a victor. Better two then none. Especially if those two are madly in love. That could save us both. Then we could live together forever. I start to ponder this idea some more. The more I think about it, I realize that it's a horrible idea. Who am I kidding? It could never work! What a stupid thought! How could I be so stupid! The would have no problem killing us both! They don't care. They will find a way to kill one of us. Not to mention the idea is just plain cheesy. I wish it could work, but it can't. I need to stop thinking about it. I just need to enjoy whatever time I have left with the man I love. Who knows when or if we will be able to be this close again?

Chapter 11

I let the thoughts about the games slip away. I just want to be with Cato now. He is the only thing I care about. We are just sitting here, cuddling. We hold each other close. I start to fall asleep in his arms. Just as I'm dosing off Pinda comes to tell us to get ready for bed. We kiss each other good night and go to our rooms. I can't help but think about not only how much I love Cato, but the fact that we made love. Also there is a small chance I could be pregnant. My pregnancy tests! I almost forgot! I need to check them! I go to the one bathroom that is in our train car for better lighting. I splash my face with cold water to wake myself up enough to check the tests. I pull them out to see they aren't ready yet. I will wait another 10 minutes incase the results do show up. While I'm waiting, I just sit on the counter attempting to think about all that has happened in the past few days. I can't really think though. My thoughts are directed toward my love for Cato and how impatient I am to know the results of the pregnancy test. I wonder if the game makers would even allow someone who is pregnant to enter the games. They probably don't care. Why would they? It's not their problem. If I was pregnant, Cato would become way more over protective than he already is. There would be no way to ensure that he lives. I would be responsible for two lives. My own and the child's. He would want us both to live. Maybe I should protect the baby. If I am to have one of course. I might not. I really doubt it. I decide to wait another minute or so. I stare at them. I can see that something is about to appear. I brace myself. I hold them close to my face so I can be sure I know what they say. The signs appears. All three of them say the same thing. I drop them in shock. I feint just as Cato walks into the bathroom. The last thing I remember is that he catches me and Pinda was the last thing I see.

Chapter 12

When start I wake up, I find that I am back in my room on the train. Cato is lying right next to me stroking my hair. He looks right into my eyes. His eyes tell me he is worried. As my eyes open completely, he realizes I'm awake. He then hugs me. He kisses my forehead so tenderly. He grabs my hand and asks me if I'm ok. I don't really even know if I am. I wonder if it was all a dream. I then see the pregnancy tests sitting on the night stand next to me. I go to pick them up, but Cato stops me. I think I know why. It wasn't a dream. Those tests don't lie. All three of them have a plus sign on them. I am pregnant. I don't believe it. I didn't think it was going to happen. It did though. Cato hugs me tight and whispers, "I'm sorry." I realize I should have listened to him. We should have used protection. I didn't think I could get pregnant the first time. Goes to show you how impulsive I am. Not to mention it shows that I don't know a whole lot about getting pregnant. I tell him that I'm sorry too. He then says, "Don't be. I should have made sure to use protection regardless of what you said. I shouldn't have tried to egg you on." I reply, "I wanted to go on. I was thinking about asking to. When I got the hint I decided to go for it. I know better. My hormones got the best of me." It's true. I shouldn't have let my hormones get in the way of my better judgment. I do know better. I begin to cry. I have never cried in my life. I have shed a tear or two when a family member or friend had died. I feel so weak and vulnerable. I can't help it. My life is forever changed. I feel as though the world I know is collapsing around me. Cato lets me cry on his shoulder. He knows that I have never cried. He understands why I am crying now. He doesn't judge. He even sheds a few tears. I know now that he has to die. I have to save this child. I will never make this child volunteer for the games. I cry even harder knowing that the love of my life has to die. I don't believe it. This can't be happening. It has to be a dream. It's not. I hug him so tight. I never want to let him go. He is my everything. I don't think I can live without him. How am I supposed to raise this child without him? I don't think I can. I cannot believe how much and how hard I am crying. I never thought I could ever have this much emotion. I was trained to keep away from showing emotion. So was he. When we are together, we show our emotions. That is how we know we love each other. I am weak. I shouldn't be crying. That is making me weak, but I don't care. All I care about is my child and Cato, the father of this child. I cry for several hours. Not once does Cato loosen his grip. He is there to comfort me the whole time. We eventually fall asleep with our bodies tangled in the arms of each other, never letting go.

Chapter 13

I wake up to find that he has brought me breakfast in bed again. I eat slowly. For the first time in my life, I am nervous. I have never been nervous about anything. I am nervous about what this day will bring me. We will be arriving in the Capitol today. After I finish he takes the tray away and comes back to lie down with me. After 15 minutes, Pinda and Enorbia burst through the door. They look furious. Pinda screams, "How could you do this? How could you let yourselves get so carried away?!" Enorbia goes on to yell, "I am very disappointed that you two would do this! She can't go in there like this! I can't help you now! This pregnancy makes you both look weak because you let your hormones get in the way of your logic! You two might as well just die in the bloodbath, because I can't help you now! You are both idiots!" She then slaps me across the face in rage. As soon as this happens, Cato jumps on to her and pins her to the ground. No one has ever had her pinned. He is mad now. That's how he is able to pin her. You never mess with Cato. He will kill you. I hope he doesn't kill her. We need her. He shouts, "Don't you ever, ever lay a hand on her or that will be the last thing you ever do! You will help us! You will save her! That is your job! You will do that! Otherwise, I will kill you!" He looks so hot being all tough right now. I wish I could help him, but he would want me to rest. I should. I just sit and watch. Enorbia snorts, "I'd like to see you try! You may have me pinned, but I can get out." He punches her in the face. Pinda screams, "Don't disrespect your mentor! Where are your manners?" He punches Enorbia again and releases her. She sits there in shock. I don't think anyone has ever challenged her before. He goes and picks Pinda up like a little rag doll. He pushes her in to the wall and bellows, "Don't tell me what to do! She is the only person in the world I care about. When someone lays a hand on her they are in for a beating! No one ever touches her! She deserved it!" That makes me feel so special. He drops her to the ground. He is breathing heavily his face is flushed with anger and his eyes are glowing red with rage. I have never seen him so mad. I am shocked to see him this way. Enorbia stands up and apologizes for her behavior. She struggles to do so. I assume she has never apologized about anything. Cato musts have knocked some sense into her so she knows not to mess with him. Pinda apologizes too. They both are trembling with fear. Enorbia has never been scared in her life. I can tell. She now knows we mean business. She tells us to meet with her at noon to discuss strategy. They then excuse themselves. I can see they are both shaking. Cato turns to me and sighs. I ask him if he is ok. He sighs, "I'm fine. Don't worry about a thing. I'm sorry for my reaction. I just got angry about what she did to you. I hope you are ok. Are you ok?" I reply, "I'm just a little shaken up. You startled me a little." He goes on to say, "I feel bad that I let any of this happen to you. I want you to know I always have your back. Please forgive me." I tell him I'm fine and ask him to cuddle with me again. He does. As soon as he begins to hold me his body instantly releases the tension from all his anger. He then tips my chin up and slowly kisses me. That makes me feel a lot better. He is so gentle right now. We begin to drift away to sleep again.

Chapter 14

We wake up at a quarter to 12. We have to meet with Enorbia in 15 minutes. He kisses me tenderly and asks again if I'm ok. I tell him I'm fine. He then goes to his room to change. I change too. I decide to wear something comfy, like a t-shirt and jeans. I don't care what I look like right now. No one is watching. I step out of my room to see he is wearing the same thing. We sit down and see there is lunch for us. Enorbia sits down to my left, and Pinda sits to my right. Enorbia begins with, "I have been thinking about everything that has happened. I can help you guys. I am sorry for slapping you. Let me make it up to you. What I plan to do is something I never do with my tributes. You guys deserve the best I can give you after what I did to you. I plan on getting some pity from the sponsors. I know it makes you look weak, but it is the only thing I can do. With you being pregnant, people will feel sorry for you and want you to come back and save the child. Cato can look like a hero and keep you alive. I hate to make such a strong woman look weak, but I can't think of another way." I sigh. There has to be another way. I can't look weak. I wonder if there is a way for us both to look strong. Then again, the main thing now is to save the child. I say to her that I want to discuss things with Cato. She tells us we have 45 minutes before we arrive in the Capitol. We need to look our best for our arrival. She gives us 15 minutes to talk so we can use the other 30 minutes to prepare. Cato and I go to my room. He begins with, "I will do anything to keep you and the baby alive. You make the decision, as long as it keeps you both alive and I will go along with it." I continue with, "I don't want to look weak. I also don't want you to die either. I need you. I can't let you die. However, I can't allow myself to die because this child deserves to live. I think we should refuse to kill each other. We can force the Capitol to allow us to live. I will make sure they know I won't live without you. They will have to let us both live, or they won't have a victor." I know I thought this earlier, but now I see it's my only option. I can't live without him. He is the only thing that makes me happy. I would be miserable without him. I can survive on my own, but I need him so I can feel truly alive. Without him I feel dead inside. He places his hand on the spot where the baby will grow. He rubs it lovingly. He kisses it. He then goes on to say, "I said I would do anything to keep you both alive, but I don't see that happening if I'm still around. You and this child mean everything to me. I am willing to die for you two. I have to die to save you." I tell him about how I need him and how he is the only thing that makes me happy. He realizes that he can't leave this world knowing that I would be unhappy. He wants me to be happy. I want him to be happy too. I know he would feel the same way I would if he were to survive the games. We decide that refusing to kill each other is the only option. We both need each other. If I die, I know he will kill himself, and I will do vice versa. It wouldn't be fair to raise our child without him. It would be hard on him or her to never know their father. Not to mention, as said before, we need each other to be happy. We will be together and love each other 'til death do us part.

Chapter 15

Our 15 minutes are up. Pinda has me dress in the nicest gown I have. Not the one I wore on my one year anniversary date, but one that is more professional and modest. She makes me wear makeup. I hate it. I don't look bad with it on, but it's uncomfortable. He wears a very professional looking black suit. We step out and wave to the crowd. He then takes my hand and raises it in the air to show that we are together. The crowd goes wild. We are then whisked away to the facility where we will meet our stylists. The stylist I have is named Monte. He tells me I'll be wearing a gold outfit to represent my district in the tribute parade. It doesn't bother me that it looks cheesy. It should work to get us sponsors. After I am done getting in to costume, I see Cato is wearing the same thing. Only it is sexier on him. We step into our chariot and off it goes. We wave to the crowd and hold our hands high in the air for everyone to see. It shows that we are one. We will fight together. Nothing can keep us apart. The crowd goes nuts. I feel proud to be standing next to him. The chariots pull into a semi- circle in front of the training facility. President Snow makes a small speech and we go into the building. I find out that District 12 had suits that were on fire. They also held their hands in the air together. Cato isn't happy about it. He gives them a death glare and their mentor whisks them away. We go on an elevator afterward and come to an amazing apartment. My room is very nice. I am in awe of how fancy it is. There is so much technology. I change and go to dinner. We then discuss our plan with Enorbia. Her face goes pale.

Chapter 16

She sighs, "I don't think that will work. They have never had two victors. I don't think they are going to want two victors. It's a good idea. It is very creative. I wish I could make that happen. If you guys want to try that out you are more than welcome to. If I can save one of you, it would be Clove because she is carrying a child. If you both can be saved I would be more than happy to help you out." I then ask, "Can you at least try?" She replies, "Tell you what. When things start to narrow down and you two are one of the last few left, I'll try to talk to the game makers and make you guys look good enough that neither of you should die. I'll do my best. I understand how much you really need each other. I didn't know that before. I know now. It is my duty to help you out any way I can. Just be careful out there." We both nod. After dinner Cato joins me in my room. We discuss the idea some more. We can't think of any other way things can go. It has to go this way. We just have to hope Enorbia can get the game makers to listen. I just know I cannot be without Cato. We must succeed.

Chapter 17

The next day we are taken to the training center. When we all get down there I finally get a better glimpse of my potential allies and competition. From District 1 we meet Marvel and Glimmer. Marvel is excellent with a spear. Glimmer does best with a bow when it comes to weapons, although she's not that great with it. However, she is very good with working in nature. She can make medicine out of almost anything. Marvel and Glimmer are strongest when they work as a team. For that reason, Cato and I decide we should team up with them. We also take in the boy from 3 because, since his district trade is technology, he will be able to move and rewire the mines around the pedestals to protect what ever we get from the cornucopia. The head trainer explains what stations to go to and that we will have three days of training and another day of interviews. Then we will have one day to rest up for the games. However, on the third day of training, we will be evaluated on a scale of 1-12 to figure out our odds in surviving the games. After the head trainer is done with her speech, I go straight for the throwing knives. I approach a target station. Every target that pops up I hit dead on in the center. That is what I have been trained to do. I just wanted to show off a little. This might make people either fear me, or want to align with me. Either way the other tributes sees this, I will still be at an advantage. Now that I have that done I go to learn about survival skills, which was not taught to us in our training center back home. I pick up every thing about survival that I can. I gain some very useful knowledge. I take a small break and see Cato with a sword. He is slashing several training dummies with great skill. I am impressed. After several hours of training we finally head back to our apartments for the night. We tell Pinda and Enorbia about our day. They tells us we are doing things right. With the way things are going, they expect us to be the last two standing. I am now tired and go to bed. Cato lays next to me. I fall asleep next to him. We repeat the entire day the very next day, except that I try to learn some other skills. The day after that we go in for our evaluations. Marvel and Glimmer go first. After Marvel, I go up to face the game makers. I show off my knife throwing skills by hitting all of my targets with incredible precision. I know that even though I have shown great skill with throwing knives, it still won't be enough for a perfect score. They will want something to really blow them away. I try to use a spear, which is my next best weapon. I hit most of the targets in the center, but the last spear I throw is a little off to the side. That just blew it for me. My rating won't be as high as it should be. Higher ratings equal more sponsors. I walk away worrying about how low my score will be. After a few hours Pinda and Enorbia has everyone gather around the TV to find out our scores. Marvel gets a nine and Glimmer gets an eight. Next up is Cato. He doesn't seem to flustered about his score. He is confident that it will be a high one. When his face appears on the screen, a 10 flies right in front of it. I'm so proud of him. I can tell he wanted higher, but he knows that this is an amazing score. Everyone in the room high fives him. I just give him a loving kiss. I'm next. When my face appears on the screen, I hold my breath in anticipation of a not so high score. I'm shocked when I see my score pass in front of my face. My score is also a 10. I'm relived that it wasn't as low as I thought it would be. I receive a round of high fives from everyone and Cato gives me a loving kiss. I am definitely proud of my score. I just hope its enough. As they go through the rest of the tributes, they all get low to medium scores. Our scores are the highest at the moment. Rue's district partner, Thresh, appears on screen. He gets a nine. No surprise there. He is built like an ox. He has immense strength. He is some one we really need to keep an eye on in the arena. Rue pops up on the screen. I am surprised to see that she got a seven. That is really good compared to her size. She must be really skilled at something. Surprisingly, Cato and I still have the highest odds of survival. I would have figured Thresh would be at least tied with us because of his strength. Peeta is next. He gets an eight. He too must have some kind of skill that made the game makers think he has a chance of becoming the victor. Katniss is the final one to show up on the screen. In my mind, she is our biggest competition. Based on my observations, she is extremely clever. She could out smart us. She also is really driven to get back to her sister. That kind of drive can really make a person deadly. When the number passes by her face, I burry my face in to my hands. She got an 11! She beat us! She has the highest chance of survival! At least according to the game makers. She is the biggest threat. Cato and I really are going to have our work cut out for us. Who knows what skill she used to impress the game makers. What ever it was, it is going to really get her a lot more sponsor than we will. We may not get any. After the screen goes blank, I try to stop worrying about it. I just need to enjoy my time with Cato. The next day I wake up a little earlier than usual. Today is the interviews before the games. Today is also the day when everything gets put into perspective.

Chapter 18

I get up and go to breakfast in just my PJs. Since it was hot last night, Cato is just wearing a pair of boxers. Seeing that definitely put me in a good mood. He must have gotten up even earlier to help make breakfast. I go to hug him and tell him good morning. He says good morning back. We both sit down to eat our breakfast. So far it is a normal start, but in a few minutes we will have to be preparing for the interviews. Monte arrives just after we finish cleaning up breakfast. He is carrying a dress that is covered by some plastic and is on a hook. I know it is the dress for the interview. He immediately takes me back to my room to try it on. Once inside, he removes the plastic. As soon as the plastic is gone my jaw drops. I would never wear a dress like this, except if I were on a date with Cato. Don't get me wrong its a nice dress, but its not for me. It shows way too much skin for my taste. I don't want all of Panem to see so much of me. I am a very modest person. I don't like wearing anything that makes me feel so exposed. This dress is definitely one of those things that gives me that feeling. However, I have no choice in the matter. I have to wear it. There is no other options. It is an orange strapless dress that has this reddish orange decorative frill at the top. Monte makes me put it on for him. After I get it on I look into the mirror. I really don't like how exposed I am. Monte goes on to say, "I know it shows a little more skin than you would like, but it looks great on you. I guess I was trying to go for a sexy approach instead of a safe one. If I went with something safe, you wouldn't look like you would be a risk taker. This dress shows that you are a risk taker because it shows you aren't afraid to do anything, including wearing something that shows so much skin. Its not too much skin though, because that shows you will still use caution in the arena. Not to mention that since you look great with it on, it will show why Cato would be so attracted to you. It makes you look desirable." I like the fact he was really putting some thought into this. This dress may not be my first choice, but I'm just going to have to tough it out.

Chapter 19

I get dressed into street clothes and head down to the back stage area for the interviews. There, I put the dress back on and have make up applied to my face while getting my hair done. After it is all done I see that I don't look too bad. In the mirror, I see Cato is standing behind me. He tells me that I look beautiful. I don't feel like it though. I compliment how handsome he is in his blue suit. He wishes me luck with the interview and we go to stand in line to be interviewed. Glimmer is first and then followed by Marvel. After Marvel, I'm next. I'm not sure how I want to approach the audience, so I decide to wing it. Caesar, the Master of Ceremonies for the games, calls out my name and I walk on to the stage. I wave to the audience and they welcome me. I sit down and begin to receive four quick questions about my family and district. Every one of them I make a joke about to keep the audience laughing. Then he starts to get serious. He asks me about how I met Cato. I tell him the story real quick with ease. That was an easy question. He asks how long we've been dating and I tell him about a year. That was another easy question. He then grabs my hand and stares at it. I forgot I was still wearing my wedding ring. He asks, "Are you two married?" The audience goes dead silent. I reply, "No. We got engaged two days before the games." He comes back with, "Then why did you volunteer if you two were supposed to get married?" I state, " Because my parents made me." He goes on to say, "That's too bad that you guys couldn't even get a wedding. That ring is gorgeous. I wish there was a way to at least use it for what it was meant to do. How about we ask President Snow to throw you guys a wedding before the games so that beautiful ring doesn't go to waste? How about that folks?!" The audience cheers with agreement. I hope that gets through to Snow. I want to have a wedding. I feel like I need to marry Cato. It must happen. Caesar and I stand to take a bow and he gives the audience one last reminder of who I am and I step off stage. Now its Cato's turn. I begin to turn pale as he begins his interview.

Chapter 20

I start to wonder if he will mention my pregnancy. He had asked me earlier if he could announce it to the world so we can get the game makers to think that at least I need to live. I told him it was ok. At the time I didn't think he would say anything about it. Now, I am worrying that he might. If he does, I just hope it helps. Caesar sits him down and asks how he is feeling about the games. He just says that it is an honor to represent his district and that he is ready to go. He was told to say that. The rest is all up to him. Caesar asks the same four questions that he had asked me earlier. Cato gives the same answers. Caesar than puts on his serious face. I hold my breath. Caesar asks about the proposal. Cato sighs and describes it in great detail. That doesn't bother me, though. That moment is something that I am willing to share. It looks good to open up to everyone during an interview to show that you are willing to do anything to get where you want to be. Caesar then asks if he is going in to protect me. He nods his head. Caesar than asks, "Are you are willing to give your life up so Clove can live?" At first he responds with, "She is so strong and so highly skilled that I know she doesn't need me to protect her." He continues with, "However, if a time comes where I do need to protect her, without a second thought I will take my own life if it means I can save them." Oh no. He is going to announce it. My whole body tenses up. I hope this works. Caesar asks the next question with a confused look on his face, "What do you mean by them?" Cato teases with, "I said too much already." He is playing the audience. He is trying to keep them hooked. They are all on the edge of their seats. Caesar states, "You have to tell us what you mean because you can't leave us hanging like this. We must know. Tell us what you mean." Cato sighs one more time. I can see he is sweating a little. In a shaky voice he confesses, "I will die if it means I can save Clove and our future child." Caesar nearly falls out of his seat in shock. He remarks, "Do you mean that she is pregnant?" Cato just slowly nods his head. The audience gasps. It's like the whole world stopped. It is silent. Caesar than utters, "We wish you both the best and that you are able to succeed." Cato declares, "I will succeed. Nothing will stop me from keeping my fiancée and unborn chid alive." He and Caesar stand to take a bow. Caesar reminds the audience who he is. He then walks off stage.

Chapter 21

As he steps back stage tears begin to flood my eyes again. I wish I wouldn't cry so much, but right now, I don't care. We embrace each other. I don't want to let go. He looks me straight in the eyes and says to me, " You don't need to be upset. Everything is going to be just fine. Now that I have made that announcement, it is certain you will live. No one will want to kill someone who is pregnant." I hug him and cry, "I don't think everything is going to be just fine. You definitely saved me, but we need to show everyone that I need you. Otherwise, I'll be the only one alive and have to live without you. They will have no problem having you die. I can't let that happen. This child needs you. I need you. We need you! Stay alive for us!" I hug him and burry my face into his chest. He doesn't care that my tears are getting on to his suit. He just wants to comfort me. I just wish I could comfort him, although he doesn't need it. He just holds me tight without saying a word. That means that he will do his best to keep us both alive to the end. I then notice Pinda and Enorbia were standing there the whole time, waiting for us to finish our conversation. They too are sniffling a little. They tell us that the interviews went wonderful. We then watch the other tribute interviews. Katniss comes up and does an approach that starts out as funny. Then it gets deep because he brings up her sister. It is a very touching interview. She gets the same exit we had and heads off stage. Peeta is hilarious on stage. Caesar asks him if he has a girlfriend. They go back in forth a little until Peeta announces that the girl he likes came here with him. That means he likes Katniss. This is not good. This means there will be two couples in the arena. How will we ensure our victory now?

Chapter 22

The next day I wake up later than usual. I wonder what is going on today. Why are we sleeping in? Cato is still here next to me. So what gives? He's not planning anything. Its already noon. As soon as I shift to get out of bed Cato wakes up. He looks startled. He asks me what I'm doing. I tell him I don't even know, because I really don't. We step out of the room, in our PJs, to the last thing we would expect. Pinda, Enorbia, and Monte are eating lunch of course. However, at the head of the table eating a light lunch is none other than President Snow himself. He looks straight at us. I'm embarrassed that he is seeing me in my PJs. Cato is still in his boxers. We both blush. He dabs his face with a napkin and walks up to us. He out stretches his hand for a hand shake. Cato shakes his hand and then he shakes mine. He says "good afternoon" to both of us. I'm really worried about what is going to happen. Is he just going to kill us now? Is he going to kill only one of us? Is he going to make me get rid of the child? Is he going to let us out of the games? I squeeze Cato's hand tight. Snow takes a deep breath and says, "I've been thinking about your interviews last night. They definitely tugged on the heart strings of all Panem. They all want you to get married, due to Caesar's idea. I for one don't care if you get married, but Panem is pressuring me to make that happen. I usually just ignore them because I give them what the need, not want the want. This is because they have to earn their keep, due to their uprising several years ago. They pressure a lot of things on me. This, however, is starting to get out of control. Usually the people of the Capitol don't pressure me, but they too want you two to get married. When the Capitol wants something, I give it to them because they have earned it by being loyal to me. They never ask for much. With this I have decided to post-pone the Games for one day in order for you guys to get married. However, I will have complete control of the whole thing. You will get some input, but not a lot." I release Cato's hand and hug him. We are both so happy that we get our wedding after all. Otherwise we would be in the games tomorrow. Now we are getting married tomorrow instead. However, the day after we will be in the arena. We only have one day to prepare the wedding. It doesn't bother me though. As long as I get to marry this man, I could care less. Just as long as it happens. We tell Snow thank you and he nods his head as a sign of "your welcome." He gets on the elevator. The doors close and he's gone. I look at Cato's face. For the first time, I can't read it. Monte has me eat lunch and then takes me to his room. In there, I find hundreds of wedding dresses. I don't know what to think.

Chapter 23

I try on several dresses before finally we find one we both like. The one I choose is sleeveless, but not strapless. That allows me to be modest, and still look nice without having to show too much skin. The rest of the dress is traditional. Monte examines the dress on me one more time. He tells me I look beautiful. I still have that same feeling where I feel beautiful, but my mind doesn't think it. I sigh. This dress is perfect. I just have to keep telling myself dress is beautiful on me. I have to tell myself I'm beautiful inside and out. I repeat it to myself several times. The more I say it, the more my mind finally begins to think it. Eventually, my mind truly believes it. I finally am now confident in myself. I can now see myself the way Cato sees me and why he tells me I don't need make up. He sees me as beautiful just the way I am. Now I do too. I smile and twirl. Monte claps for me. He then gives the dress to his assistants so the can prepare it. After that I head back to the living room to tell Cato what happened. After I finish he tells me had the same thing happen to him, only he was shown tuxedoes. By now its already 4:00 P.M. It took forever to find the right dress. I just didn't realize how long it took. Cato and I don't have much to do now, so we go to our private bathrooms to shower. We then get dressed and start to watch TV together. Caesar is just starting to announce our wedding to everyone. He says it is going to not only be televised, but also it will be mandatory to watch. The reason behind it is because it shows that The Capitol can be generous from time to time. Of course Snow wouldn't just let us get married. He had to send some kind of message. We are cuddling now. All of a sudden we hear the elevator doors open. Its both my parents and his parents. They don't look happy. I think I know why they're here. I just hope they aren't too mad.

Chapter 24

I go to hug them and he hugs his. I go to introduce myself to his parents. As I shake their hands, I can see that they are accepting of me. However, when Cato introduces himself and shakes hands with my parents, I can tell they aren't too thrilled about it. Pinda walks out from her room to tell us they are here for the wedding. My dad is going to walk me down the isle. He definitely doesn't approve of Cato. I need to change his mind so it won't be awkward walking down the isle with him. We sit down to chat. His parents seem to adore me. Turns out they have nothing against me, they just want Cato to come home safe. They do however, want our child to live. They understand that they might lose their son. They don't like it, but they know that it is the right thing to do. They want a grandkid anyway. My parents on the other hand, are extremely angry about it. They are furious about my pregnancy. They especially are even more infuriated about Cato being the father. I can tell my dad wants to murder him. Any moment now I expect my dad to attack him. I grow anxious. I pull my parents into my room so I can get them to accept Cato. I explain everything, except for what we did while they were gone. They don't need to know that. Soon they begin to realize how special Cato is and how much he means to me. They finally get the idea. They say that they want to talk to him first. That makes me nervous. I hope my dad doesn't attack him when I'm not looking. I make them promise not to hurt him. They agree. They go with him to his room and I am left alone with his parents. They tell me that they are thrilled to have me in the family. They love how strong and independent I am. They say that I'm perfect for Cato. I'm glad that they accept me. I just hope my parents accept Cato. After about an hour, Cato and my parents walk out. There aren't any bruises or marks to show if they fought or not. Cato turns to them and shakes hands with both of them and then even hugs them. I am now relieved. They tell me they do accept Cato. He convinced them. We hold each other and our parents smile. They are both happy that we are happy together. Now that everything is settled, I know now that I am ready to go out there and marry my Cato.

Chapter 25

The next day, I open my eyes with great enthusiasm. I can't help by smile from ear to ear. Sure, I miss Cato sleeping right next to me, but there is a tradition where the bride and groom don't see each other until the wedding. Normally, that is 2 days apart so you can have a bridal shower or something. Since we are pressed for time, we can't do that. I hop out of bed and just put my robe on. As soon as I open my door Monte and his team are standing right there. They come in and begin working. I slip into my dress and Monte zips it up. His team adjusted the top part to make it so it would fit better on my torso. It was too big before. Now it fits like a glove. I tell Monte that I don't need make up for this. He is reluctant, but he lets me go without it. The stylists then do my hair. They just wash it and then pull it back in to a nice bun. Its not to fancy, and I like it that way. Monte then hands me some high heels. I have never walked in high heels before. As soon as I try to stand, I nearly fall. Monte has to hold me up. How do people walk in these? Since we still have an hour and a half before the wedding, Monte tries to help me get the hang of walking in them. After a half hour, we realize its not going to work. He then grabs a pair of white dress shoes that still match the dress. They are flat. Those fit perfectly and I can walk in them. I am then taken on the elevator to a limo. The limo takes me to President Snow's mansion. I am too excited to notice how big it is. I've heard its huge, but right now I don't care. I am taken into it and then I am led to a small dressing room. There I wait for about 15 minutes. My parents walk in to wish me good luck and that they are happy for me. My mom is balling her eyes out. She is going to really miss me. I hug her and tell her everything is going to be just fine. She stops crying a moment and says that I look beautiful in this dress. My dad nods his head in agreement. I smile and kiss them on the cheek to show that I appreciate their support. My mom is called out of the room to stand near the alter. My dad hugs me and tells me he loves me. I say it back. My heart is racing right now. Any moment now he will be walking me down the isle to give me away to the man I love. I bet that this is hard on him. He wants me to be his little girl forever. He know's that can't happen. He squeezes me so tight that I can barely breathe. He doesn't want to let me go, but he has too. Just then we are led to some huge doors. The music begins to play. I take a deep breath, link arms with my dad, and as the doors open, my eyes lock right on to Cato's.

Chapter 26

I see that we are in President Snow's garden. It's gorgeous. Everyone there stands up. I see that all of the tributes, mentors, escorts, and stylists are here. I then revert my gaze back to Cato. My dad and I begin to walk down the isle. I know all of Panem is watching. They are required to. My heart is racing knowing that all eyes are on me. The walk seems to take ages. Eventually, we reach the stairs to the alter. Cato steps down them and takes my arm. He shakes hands with my dad and walks me up the stairs. I find that President Snow himself is the one to unite us. He goes on with the traditional speech about why were are gathered here today and such. He asks if there are any objections. I hope there isn't. No one objects. He then has Cato recite his vows. He ends his vows with, "I will love you 'til death does us part." Then Snow has me do the same thing. He ask Cato, "Do you Cato, take Clove to be your lawfully wedded wife? If so say I do." immediately he replies with a smile, "I do." He then turns to me. He asks me, "Clove do you take Cato to be your lawfully wedded husband. If so say I do." I say without a second though, "I do." He goes on to say, " I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." Cato grabs me, dips me down and kisses me. I am now kissing my husband for the first time.

Chapter 27

This moment is so special. I don't care if I am being forced to share it with all Panem. Right now, they don't even exist. It is just Cato and I. We finally release, but we are still holding each other. Snow introduces us as a new couple and we are whisked away to his dining room. It is enormous. There are tables everywhere. There is also a buffet, and an ice sculpture of each of us. The cake is gorgeous. I have never even seen a cake or a buffet. I had heard about them, but now that I am seeing them, I now know why people get so excited about them. With such limited food in the districts, a buffet doesn't even exist. Cake is a rare treat that only the rich can afford. Each of the tributes come to congratulate us, though they are forced to. Katniss comes up to congratulate us. She congratulates us sincerely. She really means it. She knows how special we are to each other. She wishes us luck and walks away. Peeta is also very sincere about it. He wishes us luck as well. We sit down to eat our first meal together as a married couple. I can't believe that I am married now. It feels great. I then dance with my father, which is a tradition. He tells me he loves me and wishes me good luck with Cato and the games. He then says he's proud of me. After that, Cato and I have our first dance as bride and groom. We don't talk. We just stare into each others eyes. The whole experience throughout the day is wonderful. I couldn't have asked for a better day. After several hours at the reception, we say our final goodbyes to our parents. We say bye to our fellow tributes and are wander back to our apartment. We go to my room, lock the door, and the magic begins.

Chapter 28

We hit the bed hard. We begin to make out. I know where this is going. This time, I'm ready. I don't need protection now. I'm already pregnant. It won't hurt the baby. Now that we are married, we should be just fine. We are both still in our wedding clothes. I remove his jacket and throw to the floor. He stops to remove his tie and unbutton his shirt. I turn on my stomach so he can unzip the dress. I stand up to take it off and it drops to the floor. I pounce on him and we continue. I remove his pants and toss them behind me. I know we've done this before, but this may be our last chance. I'm going to try to remember every detail. As we continue making out, I find myself lying on top of him. I can feel something poking me, just like before. I know he trusts me now. Without asking, I slip my hand down his boxers. I grab it, just as I did not that long ago, and again move my hand up and down. He makes the same sounds, but this time I know how to make him feel even better. Therefore, the sounds he makes are even louder. I start to think that he hasn't even seen me yet. He's felt me. He's entered me. I'm nervous for him to see me for the first time. Then I remember what I was telling myself when trying on the dress the other day. I regain that confidence and the nervousness goes away. I'm ready for him to see me now and I'm ready to see him. I wonder if he's ready. I take my hand out of his boxers and ask him if he's ready. He replies, "I'm ready when you are." He even offers to go first. He tells me to pull down his boxers and I do so, slowly. I keep my eyes closed, not knowing what to expect. Before I know it, his boxers are on the ground. I slowly allow my eyes to take it all in. Its not too big, nor is it too small. I love it, but I love him more. He seems like he is nervous for me to see it. He shouldn't be nervous about it. He gets me to tell him what I think about it. I say that it is perfect. Now its my turn. I am trying to maintain my confidence. We both sit up and he makes sure that I'm ready. I nod. I start to brace myself. He reaches around me, unhooks my bra, and throws it to the floor. My heart is racing. I never thought I'd go this far with a guy. I get him to tell me what he thinks of them. He says to me, "They're perfect." He then gets behind me and begins to massage them. It feels amazing. I close my eyes and moan. He is really good at this. His hands then make their way down my stomach and into my underwear. He massages me there to. I moan even louder. He even puts his fingers in which makes it feel even better. He is doing so well. He keeps this up for only a few minutes because I am about to climax. He removes his hands just in time. I compliment his skills with that. He just smiles and nods. I then stand up so he can remove my underwear. Those hit the floor within seconds. I don't even bother asking him what he thinks about it. I know that he loves it. He then kisses it and I lay back down next to him. We continue to experiment until we decide we want to go further. He slides in and is immediately able to move to my rhythm. This time is so much better than the first time. We know what we're doing now. We start to try different positions too. Eventually, we both climax. Once that happens, we stop and just press our bodies against one another. This night was magnificent. It couldn't have gone better. My whole being now belongs to him, and his whole being belongs to me. We are now one. Together, we will dominate. There is nothing that can stop us.

Chapter 29

The next morning, we wake up and take a shower together. I wash him, and he washes me. I'm grateful that we have one last chance to be intimate with each other. I will savor every single minute of it. We get dressed and go to eat breakfast. We go into the arena today, so we eat as much as we can. Enorbia arrives and tells us we have 10 minutes before we have to go to the hovercraft. Cato and I finish our breakfast in five minutes. With the last five minutes we comfort each other. We hold one another, not wanting to let go. Enorbia then tries to pull me away, but I don't let go. Nothing can make me release my grip. Cato then kisses me on my head and tells me that I have to let go. I look up to see distress in his eyes. He doesn't want to let go either, but he has to. Since he asked me to let go, I do. Enorbia and I make our way to the hovercraft and I sit down. He comes and sits opposite from because there aren't any open seats. Some woman comes around to put a tracker into our arms. That, however, is the least of my concerns. After about an hour or so, we land. I go into this bunker like thing. Monte is there to greet me. He gives me a jacket to keep warm. He hugs me and wishes me luck. A voice announces that we have 30 seconds to get into our tubes that will take us into the arena. I step into it and it closes behind me. I wave to Monte, and it begins to rise. The light at first is too bright, but I get used to it. I see Cato is across from me. My gaze then locks onto the Cornucopia. I brace myself to make a mad dash to get some knives. Cato is ready to go. The count down begins. Within a minute, the siren sounds and I dart straight into the mouth of the Cornucopia.

Chapter 30

I'm the first one there. I grab as many knives as I can. Cato arrives shortly after. He is followed by Marvel, then Glimmer. They all grab what weapons they can and begin their killing spree. Its a blood bath. Everywhere I look, there is someone being killed, or killing. I too begin to hit people with my knives. I see Katniss running for a backpack. She is wrestling with a male tribute to get it. I knife him in the back. I try to throw one at her, but she uses her backpack as a shield. She takes off running and I try to chase after, but Cato stops me. He says Peeta will lead us to her. He doesn't want me to waste any time or energy chasing her. The blood bath is over within 10 minutes. I see at least 12 dead bodies. That is already half of the tributes. The cannons begin to fire to signal each fallen tribute. Later the faces of the fallen appear in the sky. Within hours Cato, Marvel, Glimmer, Peeta, the boy from three, and myself have set up a base camp. We have all of our supplies stacked up in a pyramid. The boy from three plants the mines from the pedestals around it. They are rewired to activate. The only way to access the pyramid is by going through a stand up tent we have. Since we will be sleeping there, no one will be able to get through. I have at least 50 knives. Cato has a magnificent sword. Marvel has a few spears, and Glimmer has a bow with some arrows. Peeta and the boy from three are each given one spear. As the night wears on, we decide to go hunting for any tributes we can find. The boy from three stays back to guard our stuff. As we are walking we see smoke high in the air. We find the source. A tribute was stupid enough to show her location by making such a big fire. I hand Cato his sword, and she screams. Before he stabs her she pleads, "Don't kill me, don't kill me!" He does so anyway. We have to. We start to walk away after he stabs her, but we don't hear a cannon fire. We send Peeta to finish her off. When he gets back, we hear the cannon fire. We begin walking again. Glimmer starts to make fun of her by repeating her last words. She is flirting with Cato, even though she is dating Marvel. They are in a similar situation. The only differences are that she's not pregnant like I am and also no one knows of their relationship. I know she's only flirting with Cato to get sponsors and to keep her relationship with Marvel a secret. She is basically using him. That really irritates me. As soon as all the other tributes are gone, she will be the first to die. We stop to rest for the night. Marvel takes the first watch. I fall asleep holding Cato close to me.

Chapter 31

We wake up early, hoping to find tributes that we can kill while they are still asleep. Hours go by and nothing turns up. We are walking near a small pool when Marvel spots Katniss. We chase after her. Eventually she climbs a tree to escape. We have her now. Cato starts to climb up to go after her. He is determined to get her. We are all rooting for him. He is about a quarter of the way up when a branch snaps and he plummets back to the ground. Glimmer then mutters, "I'll do it myself." She takes aim with her bow and shoots. It misses. Cato tries to shoot the bow. It also misses. Katniss then tries to mock us by saying, "Why don't you throw the sword." Peeta then suggest that we wait her out. He says, "She'll have to come down eventually, or starve to death." We all agree. Cato demands for someone to make a fire. As we are sitting around the fire Glimmer continues to flirt with him. I know Cato won't do anything about it. There's no point. He is going to kill her anyway. We still need her. We can't get rid of her now, no matter how annoying she is. Out of boredom, I flip a knife to hit a lizard that is crawling past. I think to myself about how thankful I am that Cato and I survived the blood bath. I curl up to him to get warm. It is very cold. After hours of waiting we decide that some of us could sleep, while one kept watch. Glimmer offers to do so. I then fall asleep with a knife in my hand and Cato sleeps with a sword by his side. We are all ready to pounce when Katniss comes down. For now, we wait.

Chapter 32

I am sleeping peacefully when all of a sudden I hear something crash to the ground. I jump up to find Tracker Jackers everywhere. Katniss dropped their nest on us. Cato and I sprint toward the lake. Marvel and Peeta follow behind. Glimmer is running with us, but then she trips. She screams for us to help her, but we don't go back. We can't risk going back just to save her. The rest of us dive straight into the lake. The Tracker Jackers fly away. As we get out of the lake, we see Peeta is already running back. He's going to warn Katniss to run. We chase after him. When we get back, we see Glimmer's dead body covered in Tracker Jacker stings. Her bow and arrows are gone. Katniss must have taken them. Peeta is just standing there to see if she's still alive. We hear her cannon fire. Glimmer is now dead. I'm kind of glad I don't have to worry about her flirting with Cato anymore. Still, she could have been useful. Marvel drops to his knees and lays his head on her chest screaming, "No, no, no, this can't be happening!" He loved her just as much as Cato and I love each other. He is sobbing hysterically. I go to comfort him, imagining his pain. I know I'll have to kill him later, but for now he deserves our company. I don't want to kill him while he's so vulnerable. That's just unfair. I may be a trained killer, but I do have a conscious. Cato turns toward Peeta. Enraged he retorts, "You failed in helping us kill Katniss and you let Glimmer die in the process! You will pay for that!" With that, he stabs Peeta in his thigh. Peeta screams in pain as he falls to the ground. He is now going to die a slow and painful death. We just leave him there to die. I feel bad about it, but all I care about is getting Cato and myself back home. As we walk away, I go to hug Cato, so he will calm down. After he calms down, we decide that he and I will go searching for more tributes while Marvel heads back to camp. Cato and I creep through the forest looking for any signs of human life. We notice a small shelter that has been built. It is surrounded by traps. We navigate through the traps with caution. When we reach the entrance, we peek inside to see the boy from ten. He is sound asleep. I hint to Cato that I want to make this kill because I need to make my parents proud. I rather not kill a soul, but I have too. I throw my knife and it hits him directly in the heart. As soon as the knife hits him, we hear his cannon go off. Now there is just nine of us left. I hope Enorbia will soon start to try to persuade the game makers to let us both live. We head back to camp and wait. After two days we see smoke. We decide to go investigate, but we leave the boy from three to guard the camp. No one is there. We see another. Just as we set foot near the second smoker, we hear a huge explosion.

Chapter 33

We rush back to the camp site. We discover that everything has been blown up into smithereens. The trap set up by the boy from three worked too well. Now we have nothing. Cato roars, "What have you done!" and snaps his neck in rage. Marvel tries to get him to relax, but nearly gets killed while trying to do so. I turn Cato towards me and kiss him. That gets him to settle down. We begin to survey the damage and try to find anything that survived the explosion. We come up with only a few pieces of food. Not two minutes later we hear the scream of a small girl. I know it's Rue. She must have gotten caught in one of Marvels traps. She is screaming for Katniss. Marvel runs to try to get to her before Katniss does. Five minutes later, I hear a cannon fire. I hope it was for Marvel for two reasons. One, he can be with the one he truly loves, which is Glimmer, and two Rue is way too young to die. Two minutes after that, I hear another. Cato and I go to see what happened. Marvel has an arrow right through his heart. It had to have been shot by Katniss. He is now dead. We look over a few feet away to see innocent, little Rue lying on her back. She is holding flowers and her body is surrounded by even more flowers. We know she too is dead. Katniss must have decorated her body so she wouldn't be forgotten. In the distance, I see a bloody spear caught in some spear must have been removed from a body. Then it hits me. Marvel killed her. Marvel killed an innocent child. Poor Rue. She seemed so fragile. Katniss was generous enough to remove the spear from her body and comfort her for her final moments. I begin to tear up a little. Someone so young like her doesn't deserve to be a part of this. She was way too young. I hug Cato. He knows why I'm upset. He tells me that it was bound to happen anyway. He's right. I can't help her now. We walk away so the hovercraft can get their bodies. Now there are only six left. The only two pairs left are Cato, myself and Katniss and Peeta. Thresh is still alive. Cato says that he is the next target. However, we decide to head back to camp and try to gather more things to survive. By the time we have some more essentials, it is dark. Marvel and Rue's face appear in the sky. We huddle together to keep warm. I will sleep while Cato watches. He wants me to get as much rest as I can since I'm carrying a child. We now only have each other to rely on. That's ok though. We can survive. We can make it out alive. Nothing will stop us. I just know it.

Chapter 34 A

I wake up the next morning to see Cato has stayed awake the whole night. Not once did he even close his eyes. He is in his protective state right now. I give him a good morning kiss and we begin to make a small breakfast for ourselves. We discuss what our next move will be. After about an hour of discussion we determine that, instead of going to find Thresh, we will go find Peeta again so we can get rid of him. I can't even believe he is still alive after Cato stabbed him. I ask him why he didn't just kill Peeta immediately. He replies, "He is paying for his failure in not being able to help us get Katniss by suffering a slow and painful death. He's suffered probably long enough. Lets go put him out of his misery." I nod in agreement. We set out to find the last place we saw him, which was by Glimmer's dead body. We get to the spot to find that he had managed to move away, even though he probably couldn't walk with that leg. He must have dragged himself. He is a fighter. We can barely make out a blood trail. We decide to follow the it. After several hours, we decide to stop for lunch. I spot a rabbit. I throw a knife right at it hits the rabbit, it drops dead. I must have hit it in the heart. I feel bad for killing it, but we need to eat. We quietly cook it and we each eat half of it. It didn't taste that great, but it was enough of a meal to keep us going. We follow the trail for several more hours. Just before dark, we choose to rest for the night. While we are setting up camp the Capitol anthem begins to play. There is an announcement. The rules have been changed. No longer does there need to be a single victor. Since there are two sets of district teams, and two singles from different districts, the 2 district teams can work together to hunt down the two singles. The singles can work together to hunt down the district teams. However, if any one of the district teams kills a tribute from the other district team, the new rule will be revoked. If that happens, only one tribute can be crowned. This means that Cato and I both can go home. We won't have to kill each other, so long as we work with Katniss and Peeta. I grow excited knowing that I can bring Cato back with me to the district. Out of this excitement I pounce on him and we begin to make out again. Through an impulse my hand wanders down from his face, to the point of no return. His hand seemed to have done the same. From there, our hormones start to take over our minds.

Chapter 34 B (optional)

We start to move are hands up and down each other's bodies. Our teenage brains then convince us that we should go further. It may not be the best idea, but at this point, it is something that we can actually do that is enjoyable while we are in the arena. We don't care if people are watching. It's about us, not them. He lies on his back and I use an extra jacket we have to cover him while he opens his pants. I then grab another extra jacket to cover myself as I pull my pants down just enough for this event. We carefully maneuver into position without exposing ourselves. Once we accomplish this, we go right at it. It feels just as wonderful as it did before. I don't know why it's not bothering us that we could be doing this on live TV. It doesn't even bother us that our parents could be watching. We just want to have some fun because it has been so stressful these past few days. We needed to enjoy ourselves some. After we finish, we quickly and carefully pull our pants up in a way where we are still hidden.

Chapter 34 A (continued)

After that, we start to think about what our next move will be. We are kind of unsure if we should work with them. We discuss it for a few minutes just to see if this is the right decision. We can't think of any other options. Therefore, working with Katniss and Peeta is going be our best chance at ensuring that we both go home. We don't know where they are right now, so we decide we will begin our search in the morning. Cato wants to take watch again, but I tell him that I should because he needs to rest. He reluctantly agrees. He lies down by my feet and falls asleep right away. I listen for anything unusual. I look for signs of human life around me. I become fully aware of my surroundings. I can see and hear everything. Nothing will go unnoticed tonight.

Chapter 35

At the crack of dawn Cato opens his eyes. He's ready to go. He doesn't want to waste any time. We eat a small breakfast that we recovered from the explosion and head off in search of Katniss and Peeta. We continue to follow the blood trail. As we are walking, I can't help but wonder if we were filmed during our intimate moment last night. I don't care what anyone thinks, but I just wonder if they would show such a thing. All of a sudden, the blood trail stops near the river. Katniss must have picked him up and taken him to safety. We go upstream until we find a cave. We cautiously enter it. I ready my knife incase of attack, and Cato has his sword prepared as well. He leads. I start to make out faces in what little light there is. One of the faces is Katniss for sure. I assume the other is Peeta. We keep our weapons up incase they do decide to attack. Katniss spots us and takes aim right at Cato's head. I shakily say to her, "Look, we need your help. You know Cato and I are expecting a child. Cato deserves to witness his offspring grow and prosper. I also need to live so I can bring our unborn son or daughter into this world. If I die, so does our unborn child deserves to live. Please don't let our child die. " I even drop my knife to show that I mean what I say. Katniss retorts, "Why should we trust you? You already nearly killed Peeta, and you had me treed. Not to mention you threw a knife at my head! How do we know this isn't a trap." I reply, "Because I know you want to get back to your sister. You also don't want to have to end up having to kill that boy right there. You need our help." She reluctantly drops her bow. Cato drops his sword. We slowly approach them. As I get close, I see Peeta's wound from Cato's sword. It's really nasty. It looks infected too. We can't lose him, or only one of us will be able to leave the arena alive. I wish I knew how to heal it. Glimmer would. She could treat anything. Now I wish we had saved her. Although, we wouldn't have this new rule if she was still alive. I pass Cato and reach out to Katniss. She steps back a little. She is still unsure. She thinks I'll kill her with just my bare hands. I could. I do know how to. I'm not going to though. Peeta tries to stand up, but he can't, due to his wounded leg. He pulls Katniss down to him and whispers something into her ear. She stands back up and reaches out for me. I grab her hand and shake it firmly. She knows that I could have attempted to kill her by now. She now understands that we want to work together. I pull her close to me and then give her a friendly hug. She is startled at first, but then hugs me back. I whisper, "Thank you." "For what?" , she inquires. I reply, " For two things. One for the sincere congratulations on our marriage. And two, for allowing us to come and work together. We both need to go home. This is the only way to ensure that." She just nods. She then shakes Cato's hand, although Peeta is ready to pounce incase something goes wrong. Katniss is already aware of the danger that could come out of just shaking his hand, but she is able to realize that he won't hurt her. We then sit down to examine Peeta's leg. Cato apologizes for it. Peeta actually forgives him. That really shocked me. After Cato tried to make him suffer, I figured he would be angry, but he's not. I picked up a few things from Glimmer about healing. There is nothing that can be made from nature that heal something this bad, at least not from what I've learned.. I don't know what to do. I start weigh my options. Should we try to save him? Should we change our minds? I know in my heart that I can't kill them now. My brain says I should. The compassion of my heart and the logic of my brain are at war about this when the anthem begins to play again. What now? What I then hear makes me jump to my feet, ready to go. This announcement is not a game changer, but a life saver.

Chapter 36

There is going to be a feast at the Cornucopia. However, its not just any feast. It will have something that each of us need, desperately. I bet its the medicine for Peeta. If we get it, we can be sure that we all will be able to leave the arena alive. The other thing we need to be cautious about is that at a feast, there is always a death. The feast isn't until tomorrow, so we don't have to worry about it yet. I discuss some ideas with the Cato, Katniss, and Peeta. Peeta wants us to stay. The rest of us want to go get the medicine. We go with the majority rules. Cato and I are going to stay here to look after Peeta while Katniss goes for the medicine. Cato really wants to go get it himself, but Katniss feels she needs to do it since Peeta is her district partner. She wants to go it alone. I want to go with her, but I need to rest. Since I can't eat a whole lot, I don't have very much energy. The baby is taking most of what little energy I do have to survive. I need to save as much it as possible. By now it is already pretty late. We took awhile to make these decisions. Katniss volunteers to take watch tonight. I hold Cato close to me so I don't get too cold. I trust Katniss with my life now. I hope that I can trust her to not kill us in our sleep.

Chapter 37

I wake up to find that Katniss has kept both Cato and I alive. That is a huge relief. Katniss has a small amount of food that we can have for breakfast. It was from Marvel's pack that he was carrying when he died. She must have taken it. Its good that she was smart enough to not let that go to waste. We each get a small portion and save some for later. Peeta gets a slightly larger portion so he can continue to fight the infection in his leg. We also sneak in a sleep syrup that Katniss had received from a sponsor. Katniss is about to head out when I stop her to wish her good luck. She nods to signify that she appreciates that. She looks at Peeta for a moment and then goes to kiss him bye. He tries to hold her back, but he doesn't have enough strength, due to the sleep syrup taking affect. He passes out right then. She waves to us and heads off. I hope she makes it back. I turn to Cato to see what we should do now. He doesn't even know. We just stare at each other blankly. We just sit there for hours and hours. Finally, Peeta wakes up close to evening time. He begins to ask where Katniss is. We tell him the truth. He gets so angry that we let her go that he tries to get up to go find her. He tries to get up with all his might, but it's not enough. His body has exhausted most of his strength. He has just enough to talk to us. I hear a bell. It's a gift from a sponsor. Cato goes to retrieve it. Its soup for Peeta. I spoon feed it to him since he can't do it himself right now. He is hesitant at first, but he then he lets go of his worries and allows me to feed him. After he finishes I feel his forehead to see if there is a temperature. He does have one. It seems like a high one too. I don't know if he can make it much longer. I hope Katniss gets back soon. Peeta doesn't even notice his temperature. He is worried about Katniss. We start talk ask him about his life so we can distract him from thinking the worst. He's a baker's son. He has some younger brothers. He has had a crush on Katniss since he was young. He's such a sweet guy. Katniss really should consider dating him. She seems like she has no emotion. Peeta explains it's because, ever since her dad died, she took over to take care of her mom and her younger sister, named Prim. With this responsibility, she had no time to worry about emotions or feelings. I feel bad for her. She lost her dad, and she is the only one who can really take care of her family, other than her best friend, Gale. Peeta gets bored of answering our questions, so he asks us about our lives. We tell him pretty much everything except for our intimate moments. We really start to bond like friends. A few hours later Katniss is back with the medicine. There aren't any marks on her to show if she ran into anyone. She got lucky. As she applies the medicine, Peeta winces in pain. Katniss is exhausted, Peeta needs to rest to build up his strength, and my pregnancy is taking a toll on me. Cato takes watch so the rest of us can rest. I sleep next to Katniss to keep warm. She hugs me to show that she trusts me. She also cares about me now too. I care about her. I really feel like we are friends now. I've never had a friend before, other than Cato of course. However, Cato and I are now more than friends, so that doesn't count anymore. Now I have a real friend for the first time. Knowing that another person other the man I love cares about me, makes me smile as I fall asleep.

Chapter 38

I'm the first to wake up. Katniss and I have been hugging each other all night to keep warm. Cato hasn't moved once. I sit up and give him a good morning kiss. That makes us both smile. I look down to see how Peeta's leg is doing. I can barely tell because this cave doesn't let a lot of light in. I start a small fire so I can see it. I don't believe it. It's completely healed! It just looks like a cut on his leg now. I wake Katniss to show her. She is sighs with relief. Peeta wakes up due to all the commotion we are making about it. I just point at his leg and his jaw drops. He tries to stand up. He does so with ease! He can walk! It's a miracle. Better yet, he will live, which means we can all go home! I sigh with relief. I stand up to tell Peeta how glad I am that his leg is okay. I even give him a friendly hug. Cato stands up to hug him too. He apologizes again for the whole thing. He too is glad that Peeta is better. Peeta gives him a sincere thank you. He really appreciates our companionship and our sincere desire to help him and Katniss out. There is no way he would have survived without us. Katniss is also so grateful that we were here to take care of him while she was getting the medicine. We are grateful that they are willing to work with us. We saved each other. Because of this, we have become a real team. We now have each other's backs. We are going to make it out alive. Nothing will stop us. After a few minutes of gratitude toward one another we begin to create a strategy. Katniss tells us she can't kill Thresh because he saved her from another tribute. He saved her because she aligned with Rue. She feels that she owes him. I can understand that. It is decided that Cato and I will go after Thresh and Katniss and Peeta will go after the girl from five, whom they nicknamed Foxface. We ready what little supplies we have left and arm ourselves with our best weapons. After about an hour of preparation we split up to find our targets. Cato and I know that Thresh is hiding in a tall grass field. We can't go in there to find him because he could sneak up on us while being concealed by the tall grass. We can't lure him out. Even if we stand out there beckoning to him, he won't come out. He won't even come out to work with Foxface. He knows he's out numbered, but he won't go down without a fight. He wants to see if he can just wait us out. He hopes we die of a natural cause. By the time we get to the field, its dark. When we get there, we start to strategize. Hours pass and still we haven't come up with a plan to get him. Then, out of the blue, we hear a girl's scream. A cannon fires. We hear growling. Thresh then dashes out of the tall grass like he is running for his life. We look back to the grass and can barely make out a glowing pair of eyes.

Chapter 39

We can't make out what sort of creature would own these eyes. Unexpectedly, something leaps out of the grass and starts to attack Cato. I stab it in the back. It turns angrily towards me. Right before it can bite me, Cato decapitates it. I barely get the chance to notice what the creature was. It was a dog/ bear thing. However, the eyes resembled those from the boy from 10. I think it was just a coincidence. Not 30 seconds after the attack several more of them start to chase us. We run straight to the cornucopia. We climb up to get away from them. Peeta and Katniss are already there. I look to Cato to see how if he is ok. He has blood pouring down his face, and his jacket and shirt are scratched, reveling his flesh. Katniss and Peeta both have bite marks on their legs. I too have taken damage. The creature had slashed my back. I can feel the blood dripping down my back. Out of the blue, Thresh attempts to stab Cato in the heart with a sword. Cato is quick enough to block it. Thresh too has blood streaming down his face. He tackles Cato to the ground. They then begin wrestling. I go to stab him, but he turns and pushes me. I'm so light that, the push nearly makes fall of the cornucopia. Luckily, Katniss catches me in time. I look back to see Thresh is still wrestling Cato. For no reason, my gaze turns toward the creatures on the ground. Every single one of them has eyes resembling a fallen tribute. The smallest one of course, has the eyes of Rue. The largest is the one representing Marvel. The capitol must have mixed the fallen tributes' DNA with a bear and dog to create them. Each of them are craving revenge to fill their stomachs. Only our blood will quench their thirst. They are trying go climb on top of one another to reach us. Katniss and Peeta are working to keep them back. My eyes wander back to Cato and Thresh, who are at each other's throats. Both have blood all over them. They lock swords. Thresh pushes Cato toward the edge. He pushes back, but he trips right after. I go to slit his throat. He turns from Cato and tackles me. We wrestle a bit. As we are wrestling, my knives fall from my jacket to the ground. Now I have no weapons. Thresh pulls me up and holds his sword to my throat. Cato shuffles back to his feet as quickly as he can. Our eyes lock. He can see the fear in my eyes. My life is in the most danger it has ever been. Also, our child is hanging in the balance. For the first time, I am experiencing real fear.

Chapter 40

My life is flashing before my eyes. I need to get out of this, or two lives will leave this world. Both of those lives matter to Cato. He knows he needs to do something. I can see the outline of a knife in his jacket. I have tried to teach him to throw knives. He never really got the hang of it. If he were to try to master it, now would be the time. He drops his sword, and draws out the knife, slowly. If he misses, it could be the end of me and our child. He could hit us, or the knife could completely pass us. Thresh could react by slitting my throat. He only has one shot at this. His eyes are gleaming red with rage. His veins are bulging out of his head. The moonlight is reflecting off his sweaty face. Blood is pouring down his face and body. He is angry. Very angry. He can't even feel the pain from the cuts in his body. His testosterone is fueling his rage. I can hear him breathing heavily. He prepares to throw the knife. Thresh tightens his grip on me. His eyes never leave mine as he throws the knife. It zooms through the air. Almost instantly, it hits Thresh right in the forehead. Out of shock, he loosens his grip on me. I elbow him to escape. I then remove the knife from his forehead, and stab him in the heart. I look him in the eyes and whisper to him, "I'm sorry." He falls to the ground and is then devoured by the creatures created by the Capitol. He doesn't even scream. His heart stopped beating before he hit the ground. Minutes pass until, finally, the last cannon fires.

Chapter 41

I leap right into Cato's arms. I knew that he wouldn't miss. When it comes to the people he loves, nothing will stop him from keeping them safe. The creatures disappear. Katniss and Peeta approach us. We all give a big group hug. We cheer in our victory. The hovercraft appears to take us away. Once on board, they start to treat our wounds and gives us medicine to relieve our pain. They dress us in hospital gowns, and place us on the hospital beds. They put me in a separate room from Cato. Katniss is in the bed next to me. They wash the blood from my body, and stitch up my cuts. Within an hour, Katniss and I are all fixed up. We get dressed and go to see how the boys are doing. Peeta is ready to go, but Cato isn't. He is all stitched up, but at the moment, he is unconscious. I assume he is just exhausted from everything that has happened. I go to kiss him. He instantly wakes up and embraces the kiss. He holds my face and softly says, "I love you." I say it back to him. I can feel tears dashing down my face. I'm so grateful that we both made it out alive. He wipes the tears from my face. He sits up and kisses me tenderly. He then stands up and pulls me into his arms. I hold him close to my body. I can feel his heart racing. He is relived of his fears of losing me and our baby. He is thrilled that we are both alive. He is stoked about becoming a father in the near future. I too, am looking forward to becoming a mother. Its weird to think that I will be a mom. Its even more strange to think that we will actually have kids of our own. He begins to caress my ever growing stomach. Its not very big right now, but it will be soon. We keep our arms wrapped around each other all the way back to the Capitol. From there, everything is down hill.

Chapter 42

As soon as we arrive in the Capitol, our stylists are there to greet us. Monte immediately tries to squeeze the life out of me. He missed me. I give him a gentle hug, and then we head back to the apartment. The allow us to go to bed as soon as we get there. I forgot how great it is to be able to sleep in a warm bed. Its very comforting. Cato joins me in the bed. We just want to savor every moment with each other. We never know if something could come between us. Every moment with him is special. I keep every single minute with him close in my heart so that I am sure that I don't take him for granted. We fall asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. The next day we are waken up at 6:00 in the evening. They let us rest after such a long and brutal ordeal. They know we needed it. We are dressed in some fancy clothes and then we are taken back to see Caesar. He has to interview us again. I can tell he is pleased to see that all four of us made it out alive. We all deserve it. He calls all four of us out, not by our real names, but the nicknames we earned through out the this whole experience. I am know as the Girl with the Knives, due to my knife throwing skills. Cato is known as the Boy with the Sword, because he was so deadly with it. Katniss is the Girl on Fire because of her costume in the tribute parade. Peeta is known as the Boy with the Bread because he is a baker's son. We all step out on stage, hand in hand, and take a bow. The crowd goes wild. They loved the show we gave them. They can't get enough of us. We sit down on a huge couch to talk to Caesar. He shows us tidbits of our time in the arena. He never shows my intimate moment with Cato. During that moment, I didn't care if people were watching. Now, I am hoping that it never hit the air. No eyes were supposed to see it. Thank goodness no one did. Anyway, during each clip, Caesar asks us about what we were thinking then, or why we did what we did. I am waiting for him to ask some deep questions. He eventually does. He talks about how Katniss and Peeta got another nickname. They, together, are known as the Star- Crossed Lovers, due to Peeta announcing his love for Katniss. The fact that they might have had to kill each other made it seem impossible to be in love. Cato and I had the same issue. I don't know why they didn't refer to us as the Star- Crossed Lovers, especially since we went in with me being pregnant with his child. Not to mention we were already married. That should make us the real Star- Crossed Lovers. I suppose its because we're careers. The Capitol people don't give us the same respect, due to our reputation. No matter how much Cato and I express our love for each other, they still think we are ruthless, killers. After it is established, that Peeta and Katniss are in love, we all stand up and take another bow. Cato then turns me towards him, dips me down, and kisses me for everyone to see. He wants everyone to know we too are in love. We won't be cast aside, due to our reputation. No one will forget us. We are the Star- Crossed Lovers.

Chapter 43

We get to spend one last night in our beautiful apartment. We all go to Katniss and Peeta's penthouse apartment, and celebrate our triumph. There, I finally get to meet their mentor, Haymitch, who also won the Hunger Games. He seems to always be drunk and also he is very sarcastic. He probably is using the alcohol to suppress some kind of issue. Effie is just ridiculous. She speaks really weird and she is way too concerned about manners. Still, I enjoy talking with them. We all talk for hours. Everybody there starts to grow on me. I feel like I do have my own group of friends now. Its nice to know I have other people I can confide in. After a few hours, Cato, Pinda, Enorbia, and myself decide to head back to our apartment to sleep. I decide to sleep by myself, because I want some alone time. I don't know why. Maybe I just need time to think. Everything has happened so quickly. It feels like it was just yesterday that Cato and I got engaged. We are way ahead of that now. I fall asleep within 2 minutes. I am sleeping peacefully when I start to have nightmares about the games. I dream of Katniss and I at the Cornucopia for a feast. In this dream only one district pair can go home. I throw a knife at her and it slices her forehead. I run toward her while she tries to shoot me with her bow and arrows. We wrestle until I pin her to the ground. I decide to mock her about Rue and Peeta. I am about to torture her when Thresh picks me up and holds me against the cornucopia. He asks me if I killed Rue. I tell him I didn't. He starts rambling and I scream for Cato. He then hits my head with a rock. He puts a dent in my skull with it, and lets me fall to the ground. He says something to Katniss, and then they both run away. Cato kneels next me. He couldn't get to me in time. I'm going to die. Tears are pouring off his face onto me. He is there for my last few moments. He whispers to me, "I love you." I start to see a bright light, and then I can't hear anything. I wake up, screaming.

Chapter 44

It felt so real. I really thought I was dead. Cato bursts through my door to see whats wrong. He sees that I am shaking heavily. He hugs me and tells me everything is ok. I hold on to him like its life or death. My heart rate starts to slow down. Its like he has the magic touch. He is really helping me calm down, just by holding me close to him. After a few minutes, I become tired again, but I worry that I could have another nightmare. Cato offers to spend the rest of the night with me. I don't hesitate to have him do so. Having him by my side reassures me that I have nothing to worry about. It seems as though, when ever I sleep with him, I am immune to nightmares. I need his warm body resting peacefully next to me every night. It is the only way to ensure a good nights rest. I sleep though the whole night without a single nightmare. The next day we are waken up a little earlier. Today, we are being crowned the victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games. Then we will go home today. Monte dresses me for the last time. He is fighting back tears. He is going to miss me. I will miss him, too. He was very good at helping me make a good impression on people by dressing me in certain ways. We are seated at the top of the stairs of the entrance to the training center. President Snow shakes our hands and congratulates us one by one. He then places a crown on each of our heads. I can smell blood and roses on him, all at the same time. That's kind of weird. I don't care though. It is all about celebrating our victory right now. That's all I want to do. He congratulates us one more time and we come together for one more great big hug. We say our goodbyes, and get on the train back home.

Chapter 45

When we get home everything will be different. The whole world now knows of our relationship. We don't have to hide that anymore. Our parents are finally getting along after generations of hate towards each other. Best of all, we have our child on the way. I can't believe it has only been 18 days since that one faithful night that got me this child. I feels like it was a while ago. When we arrive back in the district, we are welcomed with great enthusiasm. Everybody missed us. We immediately get settled in to our new house in the Victors Village, which is where victors of the games reside for the rest of their lives. Within a few days, we are moved in, and we decide to make a room for our future child. It comes out extremely well. It looks like a forest in there with all the trees painted on the walls. Months go by. During those months, my stomach really begins to grow. Twice a week, I would call Katniss see how she's doing, and I tell her how I'm doing. She always asks about the baby. Her little sister wants to help deliver the child, because she wants to be a nurse like her mom. I don't think that will be a problem, so long as it is only to teach her the process of delivery. Also during these months, Cato and I prepare for the victory tour we are required to go on to remind the districts that the Capitol is forgiving of the rebellion. I will get to see Pinda, Enorbia and Monte again. I am glad I will be able to work with them again, even if they gave me a hard time. I'm only a few months away from giving birth to a new life. Because of this, I want to know what I'm giving birth to. I go to the doctor with Cato. They do some tests to figure it out. When the get the results, their jaws drop. I get worried. Did the baby die? Am I going to die? What is happening? When I get the results, I am shocked. However, I am welcoming of the fact that I am giving birth to twins. Cato is also accepting of this fact. We know we need to make more space for another kid. We get straight to work on getting this done for both kids. I tell Katniss, Peeta, and my parents. They are thrilled about it. I finally have a new life ahead of me. I am looking forward to starting this new life with Cato. We have the whole future ahead of us. The world is ours for the taking, and I'm ready to take it.

END OF BOOK I


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